The Future Is HER

Our future is promising and inspiring! On Thursday evening, the HER (Her Education Required) team, founded by Champlain Valley Union (CVU) junior Amelie Fairweather and made up of student leaders from CVU and South Burlington high schools, gathered with peers from St. Johnsbury to Burlington to advance a shared mission: formally incorporating women’s history into public school curriculum.

Local champions of women’s rights and gender equality, including former Vermont Governor Madeline Kunin and former Vermont Women’s Fund director Meg Smith, stood alongside the students in the CVU library in support of their work. Their presence underscored the significance of what these young leaders are taking on.

Erin Davis, Chief Academic Officer at the Vermont Agency of Education, appeared as energized as I was by two undeniable truths. One, these girls are right and righteous! And two, we must continue educating our youth about women’s history—suffrage, the gender pay gap, equitable health-care access, economic freedoms, and the century-long fight for autonomy and opportunity. The students’ approach is mature, justified, organized, and deeply logical.

HER members are advocating for straightforward, meaningful reform. They are collecting and analyzing data to demonstrate why women’s history belongs in public-school curriculum, engaging educators and administrators to push for change, educating the community, and learning more at every step.

Their work is urgently needed. A National Women’s History Museum study found that in K–12 education standards, fewer than 25% of the historical figures taught are women. This electric group of young people is determined to change that statistic—and their time is now.

Want to support their mission? Learn more about HER’s work and get involved at hereducation.org.